Orlando, Fla. – John Copen has had teeth problems since he was a child. Braces helped some when he was a teen, but not for long.

Shortly after the braces were removed, he had several front teeth knocked out playing baseball.

Now 40, the Oviedo, Fla., engineer has spent most of his adult life with a loose-fitting bridge that, over time, has caused significant damage to his teeth, gums and jaw.

He’s now in the midst of a dental makeover that’s still a year from completion. But he says the process has been speeded up by a new, high-tech orthodontic system that relies heavily on computers, three-dimensional imaging and robotics.

His Ormco Corp. Insignia braces accomplished in 13 months what would have taken at least 20 months with regular braces, Copen said.

He was skeptical when the braces first went on, but within two months, “I saw the results and how fast it was. It was amazing to me.”

The Insignia system is in final testing stages, said Copen’s Winter Springs, Fla., orthodontist, Dr. John Smith, a consultant to and instructor for Ormco. It won’t be available to the general public until late this year.

That puts Insignia slightly behind a competing system, SureSmile by OraMetrix Inc., which also uses computers, three-dimensional imaging and robotics to make things easier and faster for patient and doctor. And it’s not just a two-way fight: Another computer-aided orthodontic system, Cadent OrthoCad, has been available in Central Florida since 2003.

At least two more companies will introduce similar high-tech systems within a year or two, predicted Smith, who has 48 patients at various stages of treatment with Insignia.

“This is just the beginning,” Smith said.

Oviedo orthodontist Dr. David Lach, the first orthodontist in Florida to offer SureSmile, agrees that such high-tech systems represent the future for his profession.

“I see this as a paradigm shift in orthodontics,” Lach said. “Pliers will be things of the past. This is keyboard orthodontics that enhances the doctor’s role, (giving orthodontists) full control and much more predictability.”

Control and predictability start with three-dimensional imaging of the teeth.

The images are fed into a computer and used to calculate the most efficient way to move the teeth to where they need to be.

Robotic manufacturing is used to customize the hardware so the calculated movement is precisely followed.

Smith and Lach say the metal-and-bracket system is more versatile than Invisalign, another popular orthodontic system that relies on 3-D imaging and computers. Invisalign uses a series of nearly invisible plastic mouthpieces that move the teeth over time.

Invisalign, however, doesn’t work as fast and isn’t as effective for more complicated orthodontic problems, the doctors agree.

They disagree, however, on the relative merits of their high-tech systems, which both use metal brackets and wires.

While Insignia uses computers and robots to custom-make brackets and wires, SureSmile relies on conventional brackets, using computers and robots to custom-make just the wires. Both promise to cut wearing time by as much as half, with a similar reduction in office visits.

Computer-assisted orthodontics should be a good deal for doctors too, Smith predicted. While patients will see value in achieving better results with fewer office visits and less wearing time, doctors will be able to handle more volume because they are seeing patients less often.

The number of Americans wearing braces has more than doubled in the past 20 years, from 2.5 million in 1982 to 5.7 million in 2004, according to the American Academy of Orthodontics. More than a million orthodontic patients are adults.

Treatment typically takes from one to three years, with two being the average time span, according to the academy. It gives no average costs, but $5,000 is a widely accepted estimate.

Cost is one reason adults who could benefit from braces shy away from them. But the time and inconvenience of office visits may be even bigger reasons, and both SureSmile and Insignia address those hurdles.

They won’t solve the cost issue. They cost roughly $500 to $1,000 more than equivalent, conventional orthodontic treatments. But their proponents say the 10 percent to 20 percent cost increase is well worth the 25 percent to 50 percent decrease in wearing time and office visits.

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